Birthday Chick Flies The Coop

Every day it’s getting harder to find retiring products I have, that haven’t yet sold out. Today though I managed to cram a whopping seven of them onto one little project. The Hey Birthday Chick Stamp Set and coordinating Birthday Chick Dies have been such fun to play with. Of course it goes without saying I’m sad to lose the four sets of 2020/2022 In Color Stampin’ Blends (although I only used three of them today). I finished off with a retiring punch and ribbon. All will definitely be missed.

Create this fun chicken escape bookmark using the retiring Hey Birthday Chick Stamp Set and Birthday Chick Dies from Stampin Up! #papercraftwithme

FLYING CHICK

This project all revolves around that chick flying with the aid of a balloon tied to its tail so I started there. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the image onto a 2″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card, about 3/4″ from the bottom. Then I stamped the chick onto a Full -Adhesive Post-It Note® and cut around it with Paper Snips to create a mask.

After placing the mask onto the image stamped on the card, I used a Blending Brush to add some Crumb Cake ink below the chick. Then I went around the rest of the image using a Blending Brush with Pool Party ink. With that done I removed the mask so I could begin colouring the image using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

For the chick I began with light Daffodil Delight, then added scribbles of dark Daffodil Delight on the feathers. I went over the head several times with the light Daffodil Delight, allowing it to dry for a minute between each application. This gave me a darker shade, but not as deep as the dark Daffodil Delight used for the beak. On the feet and head feathers I used the retiring Just Jade Stampin’ Blends, starting with the light one and then a little of the dark.

Finally I coloured the balloon with the retiring Magenta Madness Stampin’ Blends. After colouring the whole balloon with the light marker I added areas of the dark, then blended out the lines with the light one again. To create the highlight at the top I drew a couple of curved lines using the Color Lifter to remove a little of the magenta colour.

WOODEN FENCE

I could have left the bookmark as it was, but instead decided to add a little wooden fence. For this I needed the coordinating (and also retiring) Birthday Chick Dies. I cut the fence from a piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card using a die which also added some embossed lines. Then I coloured the die-cut piece using the retiring Cinnamon Cider Stampin’ Blends.

First I 0used the side of the brush tip to go over the surface of the fence. Although the colour did bleed into the embossing it also left some tiny areas of Very Vanilla still visible. Then using the bullet tip of the dark Cinnamon Cider I drew a line down the right-hand side of each fence post and along the top edge of the rail between them. Finally just inside the dark lines I added a thin line of light Cinnamon Cider. This simple strategy left my fence looking much more 3D which I love.

Now I was ready to add the finishing touches and began by scribbling a few lines below the chicken with the light Cinnamon Cider marker. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached the fence about 1/4″ from the bottom edge. The fence is actually a little wide than 2″ so I trimmed off the excess with Paper Snips. To add a bit more depth to the scene I added a few tiny lines of light Cinnamon Cider just below each fence post to look like shadows. I also added a couple of lines beside the balloon image. This adds the suggestion of movement.

Finally turning my attention to the top of the strip I shaped it and added a ribbon slot using the retiring Fancy Tag Topper Punch. Then I cut 6″ of the retiring gold 3/8″ Fine Art Ribbon and threaded it through the slot. With a Mini Glue on either side of the slot I fixed the ribbon in place and my final Birthday Chick project was complete.

For more Birthday Chick projects see these earlier blog posts: